When Steve Jobs returned to run Apple in 1997, he didn’t immediately have any great products to launch but he knew that he needed to shift the brand perception fast. This film, and the related Think Different campaign in print and outdoor, did the trick and then some.
Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day, Los Angeles
Chief Creative Officer: Lee Clow
Creative Direction: Rob Siltanen
Copywriter: Rob Siltanen, Ken Segall
Art Direction: Craig Tinamoto
Director: Jennifer Golub
"This is the mother of all manifestos. I truly believe this is the best copywriting that has ever been done in a TV spot. I remember the first time I saw this and said to myself ‘damn, I wish I wrote that.’ I’ve spent my entire career trying to be this good."
- Rich Levy, Chief Creative Officer, Klick Health
No longer was it disappearing into beige box commodity computer land, Apple was back. Even before changing the products, Jobs had revitalized the brand and Apple’s share price moved strongly upwards. The following year the iMac was launched, then came the iPod, and the rest is history.
Here’s to the Crazy Ones, with its cast list of great artists, campaigners, sportspersons, etc., has long been seen as one of the greatest commercials of all time. Along with the Think Different print and posters, it is one of the most remarkable brand message shifts. But it wasn’t always thus. At launch, it had mixed reviews as the Apple brand had yet to launch. Some journalists suggested that the roll call of often dead heroes was an appropriate sign for a soon-to-be-dead brand. This was not only rude, but they got it very wrong.
"Much has been said about it and, at the time of writing, probably the piece by Creative Director Siltanen in Forbes is the best we are going to get on it. Besides the genius/dictator role of Steve Jobs in the proceedings, one man stands central in the story as the master of combining creative and strategic intent. Lee Clow. It gets me every time."
- Richard Brim, Chief Creative Officer, adam&eveDDB
